My Town

Carpooling to AT&T

By horace hinshaw

Pacifica Tribune

Posted:
07/01/2014 05:09:08 PM PDT

Updated:
07/01/2014 05:09:09 PM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

Photo by Ken Mooney
Heading off to work at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, driver Harry Franco picks up his ride mates for the day (l-r) Tom Finale, Jerry Finale, Horace Hinshaw, Barbara Restani (backseat), Marian Hinshaw and Carol Mooney. The seven are among the 55 Pacificans who work at AT&T Park as Guest Service usher.

Witnessing a perfect game is one of the prettiest elements of a baseball game. Unfortunately, it has only happened 23 times over the 135 years of Major League Baseball. However, there have been 285 no-hitters, and I witnessed my third no-hitter when San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum pitched his gem last Wednesday at AT&T Park.

For Lincecum, it was his second no-hitter in the past two years. Last season he no-hit the San Diego Padres at San Diego. Last week, it was again the Padres.

For readers who might not know what determines a no-hitter or perfect game let me explain. A no-hitter is when no batter from the opposing team gets a hit over the length of the game. An opposing batter is allowed to reach base via a walk, an error or a hit batsman, but not reaching base on a hit. A perfect game is when the pitcher only faces 27 batters over a nine inning game and does not allow any opposing batter to reach first base.

Lincecum made history when he pitched his second no-hitter. He became only the second Giants' pitcher in the history of the franchise to throw two no-hitters. Hall-of-Famer Christy Mathewson did it in 1901 and 1905. Ten days after his 30th birthday, Lincecum also owns two World Series rings and two Cy Young Awards. The only other MLB pitcher to accomplish that feat is Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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Lincecum's no-hitter was the topic of discussion in my car pool that night. For eight years I have shared a vehicle with the same people. And, I have to tell you, there's no lack of chit-chat on our way home after the game. There's talk about the game (no extra inning, please), but more than anything else we share what experience we might have had with fans that night (at the game). We even talk about our own families. It's a real 'trip' to be in the same carpool with the other six.

So, let me introduce you to my carpool colleagues. Of course, there's my wife, Marian, who's been working 12 years. Barbara Restani, a nine-year veteran, was joined three years later by her brothers, Tom and Jerry Finale. Carol Mooney is in her sixth year. The person we rely on for most of the driving is Harry Franco. His vehicle is large enough to accommodate seven passengers. With the rise in gas prices lately, Harry has been 'the man'! We all started out driving ourselves but over the years we came together to build the carpool. I've been working at the park for 14 years.

Needless to say, the night of Lincecum's no-hitter sparked a lot of conversation in the ball park. The carpoolers were very active with their guests.

"Nobody wanted to mention he was pitching a no-hitter," said Jerry Finale from his 110-112 Section. "I wasn't even aware of it until the sixth inning when another Giants employee mentioned it. I can't see the large scoreboard from my location. Everybody was happy talking about what they had just seen."

Finale has been a Giants fan since they came to town in 1958, although he was not too pleased with the move at that time. "Actually, I wanted the Seals to stay since they were our hometown team playing at Seals Stadium. We could walk to the games. However, I was excited about seeing Willie Mays play," he exclaimed.

"It was the sixth inning when fans began murmuring about the zeroes on the scoreboard," said Franco, who monitors Section 123-124. "There was an elevated sense of non-verbal anticipation. Very few people left my section before the game ended. At the end of the game, everyone was high-fiving, hugging and cheering — a general aura of jubilance prevailed."

"The excitement reminded me of the two championship seasons," said Mooney, who works as a breaker for her fellow ushers. "The fans were thrilled and knew that they had just seen history in the making. Lots of "wows" and some tears of joy! The atmosphere seemed electric."

"I just saw two people leave the park in the eighth inning," added Mooney, who knows the ball club will get back on the winning trail. "I was thrilled for Tim and the entire team who have been going the dreaded June Swoon."

Tom Finale only saw one person leaving the game from his Section. "That was Ken Mooney, Carol's husband," laughed Finale. "We later learned he was halfway home when he heard about the no-hitter."

Mooney has a history of attending Giants games, and usually lasting no more than four innings. For this game, he was in attendance as an organizer for a scholarship presentation to San Francisco high school students by the San Francisco Old Timers Baseball Association at the bottom of the third inning.

"I found out about the no-hitter when I got off the N Judah streetcar in the Parkside District and turned on KNBR," he said, smiling.

Many of us in the car pool were also at AT&T Park when Matt Cain threw his perfect game in 2012 and Jonathan Sanchez pitched his no-hitter in 2009. But, Tom Finale is the only one who saw a no-hitter at Candlestick Park.

"In 1975, with my two kids, we watched Ed Halicki pitch a no-hitter against the New York Mets in the second game of a double-header at the 'Stick. Dave Rader was the catcher. Bruce Froemming was the umpire."

"When you're watching a no-hitter, your heart is pounding on every pitch. When you see the batter swing, you're thinking 'noooooo'; then you start all over again," added Finale.

"At the sixth inning, when I realized the situation, I became very nervous. Fans were getting excited," said Marian, reflecting on her days of watching her brother, Jack Kerrigan, play professional baseball in the 1960s. "I would get nervous, bite my nails, even get up and go back and forth to the restroom, I was so nervous. You want them to do well."

Both Marian and I have had exciting experiences at AT&T Park. Besides seeing World Series games in 2010 and 2012, we worked the 2007 All Star game. We have developed many friendships among the fans in our section. And while the games do end, the chatter never does as walking to the parking lot and on the drive home it's never a dull moment among the carpool seven.

"We share baseball, friends and family stories, all of which I find amusing," adds Mooney.

"Being part of the carpool is both convenient and enjoyable. While driving to and from the park, we're able to debrief our experiences in our sections. I consider my fellow carpooler as great friends," said Franco. "I feel very fortunate to have been at the park for two World Series, two no-hitters and one perfect game. As a lifelong Giants fan, one would be thrilled to experience in person, even one of these highlights."

"One of these days, the three women might figure out how to work the seat belts in the vehicle, while non-stop talking," said Jerry Finale, kiddingly. "It's a great group of people to travel with. Almost every usher you talk to knows about the Pacifica car pool."

Barbara missed the no-hitter, choosing to not work that day. Like thousands of fans in the Bay Area, she watched the game on television.